23. Reed
Chapter twenty-three
Reed
We travel for thirty minutes, leaving the city limits behind as we enter the forested areas of New York. My eyes stay trained on Thalia as she rides beside us.
The van hits a gravel road, and we’re all tossed around as the terrain turns bumpy.
Connor doesn’t even budge as he continues to hum along to some metal song that’s blaring over the speakers.
Alana is still typing on her laptop, and every time I look over, all I see is a confusing code that reads like another language.
Connor drives us up the road until a warehouse comes into view.
It’s dilapidated and leaning too far to the left, but I can make out the warm light from the inside as we near it.
The massive tin door rolls upward as a brunette stands in the opening.
She moves to the side when Connor’s tires slide over the smooth concrete inside.
Before he stops, I’ve already ripped my seatbelt off and am throwing the back doors open. Motorcycles rev as they drive past, and the truck from earlier pulls inside before parking. Theo jumps down from the bed of the truck with a crooked smile as he holds a finger up to me.
“Give ’em a second,” he muses.
“What?” I ask.
Thalia rips off her bike before pulling her helmet off and tossing it to the ground. She looks furious as she advances on another biker.
Atlas takes his helmet off before mimicking her fury, and they close the distance between each other.
“WHEN I SAY SHOOT,” she rages slowly like he’s incompetent, “YOU SHOOT. ARE YOU STUPID?!”
“OH, YEAH, LET ME JUST KILL YOU NEXT TIME, HUH?” Atlas returns.
Thalia’s lips pull over her teeth as she points an accusatory finger at her brother’s chest. “I’M GOING TO SELL YOUR FUCKING ORGANS ON EBAY!”
Atlas throws his hands open wide. “AND I’M GOING TO HAUNT YOU! I’LL DIE OUT OF SPITE!”
“GOOD!”
“I’LL LIVE IN YOUR FUCKING WALLS!”
“YOU CAN BARELY FIT IN A NORMAL FUCKING HOUSE, YOU MAMOTH!”
I’m completely stunned by the sibling bickering because at this very moment, they almost look identical…
A heavily pregnant woman with red-blonde hair, whom I hadn’t noticed until just now, waddles over with a hand resting on top of her belly. She motions wildly to Thalia as she stares at me with an impatient expression. “Stop her!”
I jolt. “Oh, right.”
Just as Thalia attempts to launch herself at her brother, I wrap an arm around her waist and yank her back. She’s still reaching out for him when Rowan appears out of nowhere and strong-arms Atlas, effectively breaking up the fight.
Rowan points between both of them, his face devoid of any laughter or mirth as he pins his siblings with a glare that can only be compared to a disappointed father. “If either of you makes another move, I’m putting you on fucking paperwork duty.”
For some reason, that threat causes both siblings to stop immediately.
Huh.
An assassin’s number one fear. Paperwork.
Rowan runs his fingers along the bridge of his nose in annoyance as the others begin to join us. The brunette who opened the doors rubs a hand up Rowan’s back in comfort, and he visibly relaxes at her touch.
“Rough night?” she asks.
He takes her hand before kissing her knuckles. “I need a drink.”
The pregnant woman—Loxley—ambles over to Atlas. He takes her in his arms protectively before resting his chin on top of her head.
The blonde woman from the gala saunters over, her dress shredded around the skirt. “Well, things could have gone much better. I’m Bailey, by the way.” She waves at me.
“Addison,” the brunette smiles.
“Theo, but you already knew that,” the assassin winks before subtly shadowing Bailey from behind. He’s close enough to touch her, but not enough to break boundaries.
The silent man to his left nods once. “Dom.”
Taryn and Emma linger beside me, and Taryn is the first to murmur. “Assassins. They’re assassins…”
The shock is slow to process. This is all so much, and I know that it hasn’t fully hit me yet. Once it does, I don’t know how I’ll react, so I take this opportunity.
I gently grab Thalia’s wrist, tugging her towards the exit for privacy. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
Hesitation and fear flicker in her gaze as she nods and follows me outside. Our shoes crunch across the gravel as I shove a hand through my hair and pace.
“Assassins,” I mumble.
She fiddles with her fingers in front of her, but doesn’t say a word as she allows me to process this.
I drop into a crouch, elbows on my knees, staring at the ground as if the gravel might explain things better than anyone else has. It doesn’t. The rocks remain spectacularly unhelpful.
Standing again, I drag a hand down my face. “How long have you been...” I wave vaguely in her direction. “You know. Murder-adjacent?”
“Since I was old enough to hold a gun.”
I blink. Then blink again. “That is a horrifying sentence.”
Thalia offers a tiny shrug.
“Your parents—” I begin.
“Trained us.” She gives me a weak smile. “Surprise.”
“That’s not a surprise, Thalia.” I stare at her. “A surprise is finding twenty dollars in your jacket pocket. This is discovering your girlfriend was raised by a homicidal version of the Scouts.”
Her smile wobbles.
I look out into the darkness, trying and failing to process any of this. Assassins are real. There’s an entire warehouse full of them behind me. I watched multiple people die tonight.
“Reed?” she asks carefully. “Are you okay?”
“I-I—” Another laugh escapes me, sounding slightly unhinged even to my own ears. “No, actually. I think I’ve moved past okay. I think I’ve entered a brand-new emotional category.”
Her brow knits together. “What category?”
“Confused mental screaming.”
Despite everything, a snort escapes her.
I turn back toward her, prepared to continue my very reasonable breakdown, when something sharp suddenly pierces my bicep. My mouth falls open at the syringe sticking out of my arm.
For a full three seconds, I simply stare at it. Then I look at Thalia. Then back at the syringe. Then back at Thalia. Then the syringe again, just to confirm it hasn’t magically disappeared.
It has not.
“What the fuck did you just inject me with?” I whisper.
She offers me an apologetic smile and holds up a small vial. “I may have been saving this.”
Midazolam.
“You drugged me again,” I slur slowly.
“You were spiraling!” She reasons.
“I was processing!” The moment the words leave my mouth, the ground shifts beneath me like someone grabbed the entire planet and tilted it thirty degrees. “Oh, fuck.”
Thalia presses her fingers to her lips with equal parts worry and amusement as she watches me. I hate that at this moment she looks absolutely adorable with her blush painted over her cheeks and chest.
My knees suddenly decide they’re no longer interested in supporting my body weight before I drop. “Oh, we’re shutting down now.”
Thalia crouches, cupping my cheek as she gives me a wicked smile. “Don’t worry. I’m gonna take good care of you, okay?”
“What does…that mean?“ I breathe as my eyelids grow heavy.
She places a finger over her lips, shushing me as the world goes dark.